UK average house prices +5.8% on year to Feb, up from 5.3% in Jan with strengthening trend set to continue
The Office for National Statistics has released UK house price data for February that shows prices rose 5.8% over the last year. The average property price now stands at a record high of £217,502, led by gains in the East of England, where average house prices rose 10.3%. This strength in property prices comes despite the uncertainty following the EU referendum, and is much stronger than many forecasters had predicted.
Mortgage lending data from the CML also paints a very encouraging picture for the UK housing market with home buying borrowing up a huge 7% on the year in February, and up 2% on the month. This is a very strong start to the year with borrowers taking out more loans to purchase properties in the first two months of 2017 than in any year since 2007.
Looking at the breakdown in the data, it’s especially encouraging to note that first-time buyer activity is strong with FTBs borrowing reaching £3.8bn up 12% on February 2016.
At Bardens Estates we continue to believe that the outlook for the property market is much stronger than many market commentators are currently predicting. Demand for mortgages and properties remains very firm, but the supply of homes for sale is still relatively weak, making a tight supply-demand picture which bodes well for future house prices.